I am very disappointed in North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem's decision to join the ill-fated Texas lawsuit to overturn the election. For years, I thought of him as being reasonably free of political influence and guided by the law in performing his duties. More recently, that perception has been eroded now reaching its pinnacle in the decision to have the state of ND join this suit.
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Any competent legal mind could see that the suit is not well-founded when it’s focused only on states that Trump lost while excluding states where he won that followed the same procedures being objected to. From a legal standpoint, how was the state of Texas harmed by election procedures in other states?
And the Constitution requires that all electoral votes are to be cast on the same day while this suit asks that the electoral votes of these states be delayed. Why would an AG ask the court to ignore the Constitution to support a political position?
He is supposed to represent all of the people of North Dakota, including those of us who believe in democracy and support free elections. It’s hard to imagine the chaos that would ensue if the candidate that lost the election by over 7 million votes and lost in an electoral landslide was declared the winner by a court dominated by Trump appointees. Would have taken moral courage akin to John McCain for our AG to say no to this suit, but, sadly, that is lacking.
Mike Maus lives in Fargo.
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This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Forum's editorial board nor Forum ownership.
